


A Jaded Heart

by Annie D (scaramouche)



Category: Romancing the Stone - Fandom
Genre: Anniversary, Established Relationship, F/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-18
Updated: 2016-12-18
Packaged: 2018-09-09 11:51:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8889691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scaramouche/pseuds/Annie%20D
Summary: Joan and Jack take a breath, at the end of another adventure.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [faithfulcynic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/faithfulcynic/gifts).



_The cage was stronger than it looked. The wood and bamboo refused to yield to my hands, nor to the knife I had found on the deck. Still, I tried; I hacked and twisted and screamed, my heart pounding so hard that it almost silenced the rest of the world. In a way, my deafness was a blessing, for I had no need to listen to the man yelling at me from inside the cage, or of the ship falling apart around us.  
_

 

“Hey.”

 

_A kind of madness overtook me then, seizing control of my mind and limbs. This was not a fitting end for us, so I refused it. I refused it! I told him as much, even as he told me to run, to find a way off the boat—  
_

 

“Joan, hey—”

Joan sat upright with a jolt. “Yes?”

Jack eyed her from where he was lying, propped up on some pillows, on the hospital bed. “Not that I don’t appreciate the company, but that can’t be good for your neck. You don’t have to stay.”

“I wasn’t sleeping.” Joan ignored Jack’s faint snort. “I just drifted off.”

“Just drifted off, she says.” Jack waved his mitten-like bandaged hands in the air. “When’s the last time you got some proper sleep?”

“Back on the beach, same as you.”

“Ah! More than a day ago.”

“Except only one of us almost drowned after that, and it wasn’t me.” Joan picked up the water bottle from the side table and offered it to Jack, who just shook his head irritably. “Honey, please, try to rest. That’s all you have to do now, all right?”

“Can’t do that with you here.”

“Now that’s a damned lie,” Joan said. “I know you like having something pretty nearby to look at.”

Jack started to protest, but changed his mind and turned away a little, trying to hide his smile. “Okay, you got me there. Got some jealous neighbors over here, too.” Joan followed Jack’s gaze to the next bed over, where an elderly patient grinned at them. Joan waved a hello, while Jack mouthed something complementary that had the gentleman nodding and giving a thumbs-up.

Joan stifled a laugh, and with it felt another layer of tension and exhaustion fall away, like skin being shed now it was no longer necessary. It certainly said something about their lives that she recognized this feeling – not just relief, though that was a big part of it – from the last few times they’d walked away relatively unscathed from some of the most outlandish situations even Joan’s imagination would have struggled to come up with.

She also recognized the reason for Jack’s moodiness, and could hardly hold it against him.

“So,” Jack said, turning back to Joan with a serious expression, “I guess since you’re not going anywhere, I might as well ask. Is Angelina going to Borneo next?”

“Not really her thing, though, is it?” Joan asked. “What would Angelina and Jesse be doing all the way out here?”

“Ah. Then a Lily-Rose story? Or a stand-alone?”

“Not everything we do ends up in my books, you know.”

“For some whackadoodle reason, I feel better when it does. Then it’s like there’s something good coming out of – I mean, something _else_ good coming out of all this… this bullshit.” Jack coughed sheepishly. “That sounded better in my head.”

They fell silent for a moment. Jack fiddled with the blanket, while Joan tried not to think about the many close calls they’d had in the past few days.

“How about,” Joan said at last, “making it a Catherine story? Before she meets Angelina in Dallas?”

“Oh, I liked Cat,” Jack said. “So she gets upgraded to a lead in her own story? That’s new.”

“She does seem the right character to get pissed when she finds out that the guy she helps at the airport turns out to be an antiquities smuggler tricking her into being a mule.”

“Make sure she kicks the bastard in the nuts.” Jack frowned. “Hey wait, does that mean _I’m_ Catherine in this story? That’d be cool. Do I get really nice hair?”

“You already have really nice hair.”

“Nicer hair, really long and swishy. Maybe you put it in a braid. Oh, and Cat should have a really big knife to throw at things.” Jack went on, describing various things he’d like his character to have, his face becoming more animated and excited the more he spoke.

The sight incited that little flip in Joan’s stomach; the one she’d had the first time she’d seen him in that ridiculous hat and vest, his casual “ _Hey_ ,” a wholly inadequate indicator for everything that’s happened since. Four years on and Jack could still do it. Four years on, and Joan was still finding all sorts of phrases she’d once only conjured up in fiction to be truly, wonderfully, ridiculously applicable in real life.

The words drifted into Joan’s mind – _her heart swelled at the sight of him, familiar and comforting and true. She knew him intimately, trusted him implicitly, and any hurt he bore, she took her share of. She’d once dreamed about being saved, but she’d made a mistake in not thinking of its mirror: that she would save him, as well._

It might not go into any book, but Joan liked having it rattle around her brain.

“And anyways,” Jack said, “I know this wasn’t what you wanted for our anniversary.”

Joan inhaled sharply. “Jack.”

“I had it all checked out, I really did. I thought this trip would be a nice break for you – for us. Now here we are, I’m a goddamned mess, and Elaine’s going to threaten to cut off my balls again—”

“One, I love you, goddamned mess or not, and two, she does that because she loves you, and because she thinks it’s hilarious.”

“Cutting off my balls would be hilarious?”

“No, how she and I _switched places_ is hilarious,” Joan said. “Nowadays Elaine’s the one sticking to the stateside concrete jungles and I’m the one getting leeches all over from walking through tropical swamps. Anyway, this is not like those other times – we’re not here because we were forced to be, or were running away from something. We’re here because we wanted to spend a holiday together, because you _knew_ how tired I was after my last book tour. I can’t be mad about that, now can I?”

Jack was still frowning, but Joan could read the relief in his body language. It was typical of Jack to focus on his (miniscule!) part in causing their latest misadventure, just as it was typical of Jack to feel bad that he hadn’t done better in keeping them out of danger once the adventure started.

“It’s hard to imagine,” Jack said, “but my life was kinda quiet before I met you, Joan Wilder.”

Joan made a sympathetic noise. “You’re welcome.”

Jack blinked and laughed – loud enough that Joan had to put a hand over his mouth to avoid bringing the nurses down on their heads. The movement brought Joan forward over the bed, and close enough for Jack to carefully brace one bandaged hand on Joan’s shoulder and lean in for a kiss.

Joan accepted the kiss, of course. And because the world has odd timing sometimes, it was just then that someone nearby cleared their throat.

They drew apart, to the sight of a young woman in a sharp grey suit, who was waiting for them with her eyes politely averted.

“Maria,” Joan said, surprised. “Is there a problem with the…?”

“Oh, no, no problem,” the young woman said. “The Minister just thought I should check in, make sure that both of you had everything you need.”

“We’re good,” Jack said. “Would be better once we can get out of here, though.”

“Of course,” Maria said, sympathetic. “If you're agreeable, we’d like to invite you to stay at one of our hotels as soon as you’re discharged. The Minister was most concerned when he learned how you’d lost all your belongings in the encounter with the smugglers.”

“That’s very nice of him,” Joan said.

“It’s the least we can do,” Maria said. “Your assistance in restoring the jade collection to us is immeasurable. If there’s anything else you need, just let me know.”

Jack looked at Joan and grinned. “Happy anniversary, sweetheart.”


End file.
